The Tulane Green Wave have plenty of wounds to lick after a 45-10 loss to the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels that felt as out of reach as the end score indicated.
In the last two matchups against the Rebels, the Green Wave have had excuses to point to: a multi-week Hurricane Ida evacuation, being without their starting quarterback.
This time, Tulane got a fair shake. And they squandered the opportunity.
As head coach Jon Sumrall said on his postgame interview on the Tulane Sports Network broadcast Sunday, “the scoreboard is what it is, but we got our a** kicked.”
Plainly, the Green Wave were outplayed in all three phases. While they weren’t beaten by penalties, and had more time of possession, they defeated themselves in each way possible.
Heading into the matchup – and knowing how Ole Miss struggled against the Arkansas Razorbacks last week – the way for Tulane to win was under a rush attack led by Jake Retzlaff.
The RPO option that worked repeatedly against the Duke Blue Devils felt largely absent from a game that didn’t feature the Green Wave’s strengths.
The third quarter has a foundation to look within, as the defense held the score. Tulane could not convert one fourth down on the day, but the rush attack in that quarter showed promise.
It was just largely absent of Retzlaff, who only added two carries in the second half to an 8-carry total for 51 yards. He still led the team in rushing, but it didn’t feel like he had the imposing presence he’d shown through the first three weeks.
When he did look to pass, the wide receivers just couldn’t separate from sticky man coverage that stifled that area of the offense.
The defense looked taken aback by the speed and tempo of the Rebels under quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, and couldn’t find an answer for short passes to open pass catchers in the second level.
They allowed six explosive passing plays for 15+ yards, and eight runs that went for 10+ yards. The Green Wave had no answer in the red zone as the Rebels went six-of-six.
Special teams wasn’t a hidden advantage and wasn’t a sharp third phase the team had gotten used to.
There were a lot of things Tulane was up against in Week 4. They faced the most physically imposing team they’ve seen with a squad that was withered and battered from two Power Four matchups.
With left tackle Derrick Graham being ruled out, they shifted left guard Shadre Hurst to his slot and put Elijah Baker in at guard. It was a lot of moving parts.
The defensive end role had little depth with Gerrod Henderson not playing. The team hasn’t seen running back Maurice Turner since the season opener.
But it felt like they lost their identity more than an absence of personnel. Perhaps there was a bit of an emotional hangover from the win over the Blue Devils led by their former quarterback.
This wasn’t the follow-up performance anyone wanted. Ole Miss dictated the flow of the entire game.
Yet, all of the Green Wave’s season goals remain in front of them unchanged. But this was a loss the team had to sit with and feel for a night.
It’s a new team that hasn’t felt anything close to this after three weeks of riding a high. They quickly fell back down to ground level. It’ll be curious to see how they respond.
Their response to adversity on this team is “good.” There’s little, if any, to take out of that lopsided loss.
But as Sumrall put it last Tuesday, much like a boxer, there’s 12 rounds of games in a college football season, and the only one that matters is the next.
They might have just learned that lesson the hard way coming off the emotional Duke win into the hostile SEC environment of the Rebels.